Abstract Crude oil reserves are sapping with time, therefore researchers have considerably shifted their focus to bio-lubricants which can be surrogated for petroleum based lubricants. The objective of the present research was to cater an idea to the researchers about the lubricating potentials of Jatropha oil (JO). The study was performed using Reciprocating Friction Monitor (RFM) machine having ball-on-flat arrangement with 52100 chromium steel ball and EN-31 steel as tribo-pair. The experiments were conducted at three different loads at a temperature of 40°C. JO was mixed with glycerol (G) and different percentages of molybdenum disulphide (0.5%, 1%, 2% and 3%) micro-particles to prepare a lubricant. The friction and wear of the tribo-pair was assessed in presence of these mixtures. The results revealed that MoS2 micro-particles were effective in reducing both friction and wear, with minimum friction recorded at 2% MoS2 concentration. The coefficient of friction (COF) was reduced by 18–52% by the addition of MoS2 as compared to the base JO. The results showed that JO has better lubrication ability as compared to the commercial lubricant SAE 10W/30. The experimental results were substantiated by examinations of tribo-pairs on scanning electron microscope, optical microscope and optical 3D profilometer. The results were found to be in close agreement with each other. It was concluded that the blend (80% JO + 20% G + 2% MoS2) is a strong candidate that can be used in place of mineral oils as a lubricant.

Biodiesel has attracted considerable interest as an alternative biofuel due to its many advantages over conventional petroleum diesel such as inherent lubricity, low toxicity, renewable raw materials, biodegradability, superior flash point, and low carbon footprint. However, high production costs, poor low temperature operability, variability of fuel quality from different feedstocks, and low storage stability negatively impact more widespread adoption. In order to reduce production costs, inexpensive inedible oilseed alternatives are needed for biodiesel production. This study utilized inedible tamarind (Tamarind indica) seed oil as an alternative biodiesel feedstock, which contained linoleic (31.8%), oleic (17.1%), and lauric (12.0%) acids as the primary fatty acids. A simple and cost-effective high vacuum fractional distillation (HVFD) methodology was used to separate the oil into three fractions (F1, F2, and F3). Subsequent transesterification utilizing basic, acidic, and enzymatic catalysis produced biodiesel of consistent quality and overcame the problem of low temperature biodiesel performance. The most desirable biodiesel with regard to low temperature operability was produced from fractions F2 and F3, which were enriched in unsaturated fatty acids relative to tamarind seed oil. Other properties such as density and cetane number were within the limits specified in the American and European biodiesel standards.

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Biodiesel offers an advantage only if it can be used as a direct replacement for ordinary diesel. There are many reasons to promote biodiesel. However, biodiesel cannot get wide acceptance until its drawbacks have been overcome including poor low temperature flow properties, variation in the quality of biodiesel produced from different feedstocks and fuel filter blocking. In the present study, a much cheaper and simpler method called high vacuum fractional distillation (HVFD) has been used as an alternative to produce high-quality refined biodiesel and to improve on the abovementioned drawbacks of biodiesel. The results of the present study showed that none of biodiesel sample produced from crude Azadirachta indica (neem) oil met standard biodiesel cetane number requirements. The high vacuum fractional distillation (HVFD) process improved the cetane number of produced biodiesels which ranged from 44–87.3. Similarly, biodiesel produced from fractionated Azadirachta indica oil has shown lower iodine values (91.2) and much better cloud (−2.6 °C) and pour point (−4.9 °C) than pure Azadirachta indica oil. In conclusion, the crude oil needs to be vacuum fractioned for superior biodiesel production for direct utilization in engine and consistent quality production.